Proteas coach Russell Domingo says that no transformation targets have been set for him ahead of the NZ Test series.
Speaking to the press in Durban ahead of the first Test against New Zealand starting on Sunday, Domingo laughed off suggestions that his team contains any players selected based on the colour of the skin.
CSA announced transformation targets for the team last month, saying: ‘In the past we had never set targets in our national teams but with changing circumstances we feel it is essential to move with the times.’
‘There has been nothing officially recommended to me at the moment,’ Domingo said.
‘We will continue to do what we’ve always done and that is pick our best 11 players. We are fortunate that it hasn’t been an issue for this particular team. If somebody said to me that Rabada is playing because he is black I would tell him to jump into the Indian Ocean. He’s a world-class player. If somebody told me that Amla or Duminy are picked because of the colour of their skin I’d tell them that they are smoking something.
‘They have proved themselves at domestic cricket and international cricket so it’s not something that has been instructed to me as yet, so we are just going on as business as usual,’ he added.
The Proteas haven’t been in Test action for eight months, when they lost to England 2-1 in January, while New Zealand are fresh from a 2-0 hammering of Zimbabwe. Domingo was not concerned by suggestions that they go into the series undercooked, but did lament the lack of Test matches they get to play.
‘There is no feeling from me that we are undercooked. We haven’t played this format in eight months but our players have played a lot of cricket, albeit in different formats so I don’t have the sense that we are undercooked.
‘I think India will play something like 15 tests at home this summer. I think we play 11 tests, six of them away from home this summer. We don’t play enough tests, it is the pinnacle. It is the format that we probably look forward to the most because of all the history that is associated with it. The guys are all really hungry to put in some good test performances,’ he said.
Photo: Anesh Debiky/Gallo Images
